I Trained HRV Everyday for 7 Days - The Ultimate #biohack

Summary

This video explores the impact of heart rate variability (HRV) on health and performance. The narrator embarks on a week-long experiment to improve their HRV from a low to an elite level using breathing exercises, sunlight exposure, and lifestyle adjustments. They discover that simple techniques like a five-count inhale and exhale can significantly enhance HRV, leading to better physical and mental performance. The experiment highlights the importance of HRV in achieving peak performance and overall well-being.

Takeaways

• 🏋️‍♂️ HRV (Heart Rate Variability) is a key indicator of overall health, longevity, and readiness to perform both physically and mentally.
• 📈 Higher HRV is associated with better health and performance, and many elite coaches, CEOs, and business leaders aim to increase their HRV.
• 💡 Simple breathing exercises, like a five-second inhale and a five-second exhale, can immediately improve HRV by balancing the autonomic nervous system.
• 🌞 Morning sunlight exposure helps regulate circadian rhythm, which can improve sleep quality and HRV.
• ☕ Limiting caffeine intake can prevent overstimulation of the nervous system, leading to better relaxation and recovery.
• 📵 Avoiding phone use and blue light exposure before bed can enhance sleep quality and improve HRV.
• 🧊 Cold water therapy, such as ending showers with cold water, can stimulate the vagus nerve, aiding in balancing the parasympathetic nervous system.
• 📊 Tracking HRV consistently, especially in the morning, helps in understanding the effects of various activities and habits on HRV.
• 🏃 Different breathing exercises can be used for specific purposes, like priming for workouts or recovering post-workout, to optimize HRV.
• 🥗 Diet significantly affects HRV, with unhealthy eating habits leading to lower HRV readings.

Q & A

What is HRV and why is it important?

HRV stands for heart rate variability, which is the variation in time between each heartbeat. It is important because higher HRV is correlated with better overall health, longevity, and readiness to perform both physically and mentally.

How did the presenter measure their HRV?

The presenter measured their HRV using a Polar chest strap with the Elite HRV app.

What was the range of the presenter's HRV measurements over five days?

The presenter's HRV measurements ranged from a low of 45 after a workout day to a high of 54 on a normal workday.

What simple breathing exercise did the presenter try to improve HRV?

The presenter tried a breathing exercise consisting of a five-second inhale followed by a five-second exhale.

What is the relationship between HRV and the autonomic nervous system?

HRV indicates how responsive or balanced the autonomic nervous system is between the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) responses. A lower HRV score can indicate an imbalance between these two responses or an inability to switch between them efficiently.

How can morning sunlight exposure affect HRV?

Morning sunlight exposure can help regulate the circadian rhythm, which in turn can improve sleep quality and duration. Better sleep can lead to improved recovery and higher HRV.

What impact did reducing caffeine intake have on the presenter's HRV?

The presenter hypothesized that reducing caffeine intake might help them be more relaxed and improve their recovery and sleep, thereby positively affecting their HRV.

How did the presenter adjust their bedtime routine to improve HRV?

The presenter turned down the thermostat for cooler sleep, avoided using their phone at least one hour before bed, and focused on getting better sleep to improve HRV.

What specific breathing exercises did the presenter use for workout priming and post-workout recovery?

For workout priming, the presenter used a three-second inhale, six-second breath hold, and twelve-second exhale routine. For post-workout recovery, they used a five-second inhale followed by an eight-second exhale.

How did the presenter's diet impact their HRV readings?

After indulging in unhealthy foods (cheesecake and carryout food), the presenter's HRV dropped significantly, demonstrating that diet can have a considerable impact on HRV.

What is the significance of tracking HRV consistently in the morning?

Tracking HRV consistently in the morning provides a baseline for how the body is starting the day. It helps in understanding how different factors from the previous day affect HRV and overall readiness and recovery.

What are some benefits the presenter noticed from improving their HRV?

The presenter noticed smoother days, improved workouts, better mental state, and overall better balance and performance on days when their HRV readings were higher.

Outlines

00:00

📈 The Importance of HRV and Methods to Improve It

The video begins with an explanation of heart rate variability (HRV) and its significance for health, performance, and recovery. The narrator introduces a week-long experiment to improve his HRV using a Polar chest strap and the Elite HRV app. Initial HRV readings were low, with variations between 45 and 54, indicating poor health for his age group. The narrator plans to use breathing exercises to improve his HRV, explaining how HRV reflects the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

05:00

🧘‍♂️ Breathing Exercises and Their Immediate Effects

The narrator explains how simple breathing exercises, like a five-second inhale and exhale, can immediately improve HRV by synchronizing breathing with heartbeats, achieving a state of coherence. He notes feeling more refreshed and balanced after trying the breathing exercise. The narrator then reports a positive impact on his workout performance, attributing it to the breathing routine, and emphasizes the quick benefits of such practices.

10:00

🌞 Morning Sunlight and Caffeine Reduction

On day two, the narrator experiences a low HRV reading due to poor sleep. He discusses the importance of morning sunlight for circadian rhythm and its impact on sleep quality. He also decides to cut down on caffeine consumption, linking excessive caffeine to increased stress and lower HRV. The narrator explains how too much caffeine can lead to central nervous system fatigue, irritability, and insomnia, negatively affecting HRV.

15:01

❄️ Cooling Down for Better Sleep and HRV

The narrator details additional techniques to improve HRV, such as maintaining a cooler sleep environment and avoiding phone use before bed. He observes a significant improvement in his HRV after implementing these changes, recording a high HRV of 70. However, he notes that the app suggests his high HRV might indicate excessive recovery from chronic stress, prompting him to continue his breathing exercises and track his progress.

🏋️‍♂️ Breathing Techniques for Exercise Performance

The narrator explores specific breathing exercises from the Elite HRV app designed to prime the body for workouts. He tries a workout priming routine and reports improved focus and performance during his exercise. Post-workout, he uses a recovery breathing routine, which also shows positive results in his HRV readings, indicating better readiness and recovery.

🚿 Cold Therapy and Diet's Impact on HRV

Cold water therapy, such as ending showers with a cold rinse, is another technique the narrator uses to stimulate the vagus nerve and improve HRV. He notes feeling balanced and peaceful after a day of breathing exercises and cold therapy. However, after indulging in unhealthy food, his HRV drops, highlighting the significant impact of diet on HRV.

📱 Consistent Measurements and Lifestyle Adjustments

The narrator emphasizes the importance of consistent morning HRV measurements to track progress and make lifestyle adjustments. He reflects on how poor habits like phone use before bed and chronic stress contributed to low HRV readings. By focusing on relaxation, better sleep, and breathing exercises, he notices improvements in his HRV and overall well-being. The video concludes with encouragement to use HRV as a tool for better health and performance.

Keywords

💡HRV (Heart Rate Variability)

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) refers to the variation in time between each heartbeat. It is a measure of the autonomic nervous system's balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses. The video explores techniques to improve HRV as higher HRV is associated with better overall health, performance, and recovery.

💡Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary bodily functions and includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The video's focus on HRV highlights the importance of balancing these systems for optimal health and performance, with specific techniques like breathing exercises and cold therapy aimed at enhancing this balance.

💡Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomic nervous system responsible for the body's 'fight or flight' response. In the video, an overactive sympathetic response is linked to low HRV, indicating chronic stress or an inability to relax.

💡Parasympathetic Nervous System

The parasympathetic nervous system, part of the autonomic nervous system, controls 'rest and digest' functions. The video discusses how techniques like controlled breathing can enhance parasympathetic activity, improving HRV and promoting recovery and relaxation.

💡Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises, such as a five-second inhale followed by a five-second exhale, are highlighted in the video as effective methods to improve HRV. These exercises help balance the autonomic nervous system, promoting better health and performance.

💡Coherence

Coherence refers to the synchronization between the heart rate and breathing pattern. The video mentions that achieving coherence through breathing exercises can balance the autonomic nervous system and improve HRV.

💡Cold Therapy

Cold therapy, such as taking cold showers, is mentioned in the video as a method to stimulate the vagus nerve and enhance parasympathetic activity. This technique helps improve HRV by promoting a balanced autonomic response.

💡Circadian Rhythm

Circadian rhythm is the body's internal clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. The video discusses the importance of morning sunlight exposure for maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm, which in turn can improve sleep quality and HRV.

💡Vagus Nerve

The vagus nerve is a crucial part of the parasympathetic nervous system. The video explains how stimulating the vagus nerve through activities like cold therapy and controlled breathing can improve HRV by enhancing parasympathetic activity.

💡Morning Sunlight Exposure

Morning sunlight exposure is recommended in the video as a biohack to improve circadian rhythm and sleep quality. Better sleep contributes to higher HRV, as observed in the video's experiment.

Highlights

Higher HRV is correlated with overall health, longevity, and readiness to perform both physically and mentally.

Elite coaches, CEOs, investors, and business leaders try to increase HRV to achieve sustainable peak performance.

Simple breathing exercises, like a five-count inhale and five-count exhale, can immediately improve HRV.

HRV indicates how balanced the nervous system is between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

Lower HRV can indicate an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses.

Five and a half second inhale followed by a five and a half second exhale can synchronize breathing with heartbeat, known as coherence, improving HRV.

Morning sunlight exposure can help regulate circadian rhythm and improve sleep, which in turn can enhance HRV.

Reducing caffeine consumption may help in achieving a more relaxed state, improving overall recovery and HRV.

Cold water therapy or cold showers can stimulate the vagus nerve, improving parasympathetic response and HRV.

Limiting blue light exposure before bed, especially from phones, can enhance sleep quality and HRV.

Tracking HRV consistently can help identify positive and negative influences on health and performance.

HRV trends can indicate the body's response to stress and recovery, guiding adjustments to improve overall health.

Short breathing exercises, such as the three-second inhale, six-second breath hold, and twelve-second exhale, can prime HRV for workouts.

HRV can fluctuate based on diet, sleep, and stress, emphasizing the importance of holistic health management.

Maintaining a high morning HRV is crucial for overall daily performance and well-being.

Morning HRV readings can provide insights into the previous day's activities and their impact on health.

Cold water therapy, when done consistently, can enhance the vagus nerve connection, improving HRV over time.

Balanced autonomic nervous system responses are key to improved HRV and overall health.

Transcripts

A variation in time between each

heartbeat is known as HRV or heart rate

variability research has found that

having a higher HRV is correlated with

everything from overall Health and

Longevity to Readiness to perform both

physically and mentally in fact many

Elite coaches even CEOs investors and

Business Leaders try to increase this

biometric in an effort to achieve

sustainable Peak Performance in this

video I spend an entire week exploring

and applying ways to improve my HRV from

an abysmal level to an elite level what

will happen let's find out but you can

Focus so to measure my heart rate

variability I've been using this polar

chest strap with the elite HRV app and

for the past five days I've been taking

my HRV measurements every morning at the

best on the beginning of a normal

workday and then also on the beginning

of a weekend day my heart rate

variability was at the most 54 and then

at the lowest after a workout day I was

at a 45. all of my heart rate

variability measurements even my highest

ones over the past five days were all

beneath the average for my age group so

apparently one of the quickest ways to

immediately improve heart rate

variability is doing breathing exercises

and one of the simplest breathing

exercises to do for this instance is a

five count inhale and a five count

exhale that's exactly what I'm going to

try right now and I'm going to see if I

get a better reading immediately looking

closer at HRV that variation between

each heartbeat essentially indicates how

responsive or balanced your nervous

system is between the sympathetic

nervous system and parasympathetic

nervous system the main components of

our autonomic nervous system which are

responsible for controlling most of our

body's involuntary functions whether

that is going into fight or flight mode

when needed to perform intensely or

going into rest and digest mode when

needed to repair and recover now a lower

HRV score can indicate an imbalance

between these two responses or an

inability to switch between the two

efficiently now research has shown that

this simple breathing technique

consisting of approximately a five and a

half second inhale followed by a five

and a half second exhale physiologically

allows our breathing pattern to

synchronize with our heartbeat in a

state known as coherence this in return

allows our autonomous nervous system to

become balanced and better ready to

respond thus improving the HRV score

would you look at that

alright so that's very promising in fact

I actually feel a lot more refreshed and

clear right now so I'm actually going to

just get back to work for about an hour

or two and then I'm gonna get on with

the rest of the day that quick fix with

a simple breathing routine left me

feeling balanced and what I felt were

some good benefits done with work for

now I'm gonna get in a workout

thank you

and I was quite pleasantly surprised at

how smooth the workout went I felt

energized able to just dial in and

perform could something as simple as a

three minute breathing routine have that

much positive impact on physical

performance well I was inspired to try

more and find out more by the way great

news guys they fixed her they fixed her

while being able to improve my heart

rate variability and become more

balanced in the middle of the day led to

some great benefits I ultimately wanted

to strive to have a more consistently

High morning HRV result but on day two

after not so great of a night's sleep my

morning HRV was once again not the best

so my HRV this morning is 53 so it's not

much worse than it already was but yeah

terrible sleep I I think if I would have

got better asleep I probably would have

had way better HRV today anyways I'm

gonna go outside right now and get some

sunlight immediately on the body because

there's a little biohack there

oh look at that glow

oh so apparently getting exposed to

ideally sunlight first thing in the

morning is good for your circadian

rhythm as it will help you go to sleep

faster and stay asleep longer and then

therefore getting more sleep would help

increase your recovery and that would

help increase your HRV this is actually

something I've been implementing over

the past about 30 days I was planning on

making a long video on this let me know

if you guys want to see this but crazy

enough I did miss yesterday morning when

it comes to standing in the Sun so could

missing that morning sunshine the

previous day be the reason for the

previous night's bad sleep possibly but

there was another reason that I think

was more apparent that I would attempt

to solve later anyways getting about

five minutes of that Morning Sun

followed by some coffee and then off to

work where every few hours I would take

a break and implement the staple

breathing routine on top of this there

were a few more things I was going to

try to do or not do this day that would

hopefully positive affect my heart rate

variability

I just finished my second cup of coffee

and I think I'm gonna cut it off here

because I've been noticing I've just

been consuming more and more coffee and

I think consuming too much coffee or too

much caffeine has been one of the

reasons that's been leading me to

getting trapped in this sympathetic or

constantly agitated stressed just can't

relax stay so yes temporary performance

might decrease here today but I'm hoping

overall hopefully slowly decreasing the

caffeine might help me be more relaxed

and settle down when I should be there

for leading to better recovery and

better sleep and just a better overall

Rhythm now it should be obvious but too

much of a good thing can turn into a bad

thing and coffee or caffeine while

acting as a stimulant on the central

nervous system too much consumption of

coffee and or caffeine can result in

overall central nervous system fatigue

irritability insomnia

Etc all circling back around to pour HRV

I then implemented the simple breathing

routine multiple times throughout the

day and then at night I turned the

thermostat down because a cooler sleep

has been shown to help one settle and

maintain sleep better throughout the

night and then something very important

I should have already been doing is I

got rid of the phone at least one hour

before bed not only does the blue light

from the phone potentially disrupt

optimal melatonin production but also

the stimulatory effects from the phone

can have a negative impact on sleep and

relaxation and what do you know I had a

great restful sleep that night and my

morning HRV reading on day three was

relatively very high bro so my HRV looks

like it's way up there at 70 this

morning but it says I'm still very

parasympathetic so last night's sleep

while it wasn't the best it was way

better than the previous nights and when

I took my HRV morning reading it was the

highest it's ever been at 70. I'm like

dude am I an elite athlete now however

according to the app it said My Morning

Readiness was off way bad way too much

parasympathetic it said I was not ready

to tackle the day I might be sick so I'm

like wait a minute I have a high HRV

score doesn't that mean I should be more

balanced so I looked into this and

according to

help.elitehrv.com it says if your HRV

Rises abnormally high within a day or a

few days the app indicates with a yellow

or red that you are likely experiencing

abnormal amounts of recovery abnormal

amounts of recovery and they say this is

often in response to accumulated amounts

of stress so what I believe is happening

is that I've actually been kind of

stressed out chronically for so long

thus leading me to a low HRV score and

finally getting a decent night's sleep

last night along with all the breathing

exercises and other little adjustments

we've been doing all of a sudden this

morning I had a very high HRV reading

and the f is picking up that crazy

variation as well bro that's too much

too fast you must be too parasympathetic

you're not ready for the day that's how

I'm taking it I could be wrong it could

be picking up some other data I don't

know I'm gonna continue with the

breathing techniques for the day I'm

gonna Implement some more things that

are said to help the nervous system

balance and then I'm going to continue

taking the measurements so we have more

data to compare it to because this just

could be an anomaly I think we're on the

up I think we're improving but there's

still way more work to do so I continue

getting that first thing morning

exposure to the sunlight doing the five

and a half second inhale five and a half

second exhale breathing routine to help

balance but then later in the day after

work I found in the elite HRV app

multiple breathing exercises for

different specifications one of them I

found was called workout priming which

consisted of a three second inhale six

second breath hold and a 12 second

exhale this repeated apparently would

help me Prime my heart rate variability

and nervous system to perform best in a

workout and to my surprise it actually

felt like my workout went exceptionally

smooth I was focused and explosive just

like I wanted to be and overall on top

of this my mental outlook on the entire

workout felt abnormally positive

if that makes any sense liking the

result I went back to the app after the

workout and did the post-workout

recovery breathing routine for improved

heart rate variability this consisted of

a five second inhale followed by a 8

second exhale and using the app to

record my HRV throughout the session I

was happy with the results because

overall it seemed like my heart rate

variability thus Readiness and Recovery

was trending upwards so my average HRV

is 64 from that session and my phrv was

at 71. I'm feeling like we're trending

up and I feel like you know these simple

breathing exercises are really helping

out along with the other techniques

we're applying I think we're in the

right direction though now unfortunately

the next day my morning HRV was lower at

only 52 and while I slept decently I

felt like it could have been better but

I also felt like it could have been due

to the fact that I was recovering from

such an intense explosive workout from

the previous day now something that can

better help you understand why HRV

readings might be a certain way over

time is tracking how you feel in the

morning when taking that Morning

Readiness and also maybe tracking

patterns or anomalies from the previous

day during the next morning's Readiness

reading keeping track will allow you to

better make decisions and adjustments to

help improve your heart rate variability

over time now another technique that

I've been implementing for actually

quite a while that can have a positive

impact on heart rate variability is cold

water therapy or just taking a cold

shower now I don't take my entire shower

cold but I finish on the cold for about

20 to 30 seconds that temporary shock

from the cool water can stimulate the

vagus nerve which is responsible for

controlling most of the parasympathetic

nervous system and from my knowledge

this stimulation kind of works like

exercise where occasionally immersing in

cold water can help stimulate the

strengthen that vagus nerve connection

and lead to a more confident response

from the autonomous nervous system

probably

[Applause]

so it's my birthday today yeah

so pretty much just relaxing the rest of

the day and trying some more breathing

techniques I found myself feeling

peaceful and balanced by the end of the

day and then on the next morning my

heart rate variability was up to a 57.

so overall the cluster of these last

three days was trending up which was

good I continued implementing these

various around three minute breathing

routines based on how I felt throughout

the day whether I was about to go into a

workout trying to recover from a workout

awaken relax Etc everything was looking

good

but that is all until later in the day I

ended up indulging on way too many

leftovers from my birthday party

celebration but let's just say consisted

of a lot of cheesecake and leftover

carryout food that I'm not used to and

food that may not be considered too

healthy oh man

but it's my birthday and what I believed

was because of just the diet change this

day my next morning's HRV reading was

back in the 40s so diet really affects

HRV

holy smokes but I managed to stay

positive and just get back on track

implementing the various techniques I

was learning throughout this experiment

focusing on that morning sunlight

focused breathing cold therapy eating

healthy limiting light exposure before

bedtime especially no phone and just by

that already by the next morning my HRV

was significantly improved coming back

to normal there so not too bad what's up

home slice so this has been an absolute

eye-opening experiment if you think

about heart rate variability as we

looked at it throughout this video and

how it can be applied and why it's so

important is because it is this reading

that is so correlated with overall

health Wellness performance Etc that we

can use it when tracked consistently to

determine what might affect us

positively or negatively and how we can

possibly Trend up and thus trending up

HRV will in return full circle help

improve that balance and that better

balanced healthy response will there

therefore improve health improve

athletic performance improve mental

state well-being Etc it's this positive

Circle and that right there should be

obvious why it's so important for elite

athletes coaches people who want to

improve their mental cognitive physical

states trying to just be a biohacker you

know what I'm saying I mean it's not

invasive it gives you these readings and

you can just watch it either improve or

degrade and make adjustments over time

now with that being said we saw on this

experiment that by doing a simple

breathing routine of just that five and

a half second inhale five and a half

second exhale approximately six breaths

a minute can instantly balance the

autonomic nervous system leading to a

balanced improved HRV reading so this is

just a great simple tool to use however

based on my research and what just makes

sense is regarding overall heart rate

variability I found it important to

measure it consistently in the morning

because that's kind of showing like

where we're starting our day off at and

I saw in this experiment after taking

those first five reading before starting

any of these exercises that my average

HRV was kind of low in fact it was

actually in the what I found to be the

unhealthy range which apparently is

between about 40 and 55. and I think

this was due to just having too much

like chronic stress built up in my mind

every single day and I really wasn't

taking the time to relax to just breathe

and I wasn't focusing on good sleep I

was looking at my phone before bed I

know it's stupid I knew it was wrong but

I was doing it I wasn't balanced I

didn't feel balanced now on those days I

had better HRV readings in the morning I

felt like my overall day went

significantly smoother from my work to

my workouts to Just My overall mental

state and based on what I experienced I

would like to further continue to try

and improve this reading by improving My

overall health so what would be most

important to me going forward is to

continue taking these morning

measurements and trying to get that

morning measurement on average

consistently higher than it was for like

the previous week let's say hope you all

enjoy this video don't forget to

subscribe stay tuned more experiments

coming out peace I will see you all in

the next video

[Music]